Eva Mendes has claimed she almost killed Will Ferrell on the set of their new comedy The Other Guys.

The sexy Latino star plays The Anchorman funnyman's wife in the buddy cop movie and revealed to People that while improvising an argument scene with him, she got a little carried away in the heat of the moment.

Eva explained: "Once we got the scene down, we were told to improv - we got into a little tug of war, and I picked up what was supposed to be a prop knife."

But what Eva didn't realise "it was actually a carving knife from our meal. I lunged at him, and I was really proud of myself".

She went on: "When we cut, Will said, 'Wow, usually we have to coordinate that with the stunt department.' It could have gotten ugly in a second. I almost killed Will Ferrell!"

In the film Eva, 36, plays the hot wife of Will's dopey character, but she hides her sex-appeal when she dresses up as her grandmother - Mama Ramos - to pay a surprise visit to her husband.

Will, 43, told People at the film's New York premiere: "It was hilarious to see Eva in granny panties and a gigantic grandmother bra. It's almost hot... and then you get nauseous. So it's both ends of the spectrum."